Motivation = Success

So I haven't posted anything in a while but I think I've just stumbled upon something that I'm sure many other people already know and I wish I would have learned long ago.
The key to success is to really want something so bad that you are willing to do whatever it takes. In other words, if you are motivated you work harder and you achieve success.

Last month I did a short triathlon for the sole purpose of proving to a couple guys at the office that I was the better all around athlete. I'm not much of a swimmer and I don't ride my bike a lot but I do run quite a bit and am fairly good at it. There is one guy in my office who is a very strong swimmer and another guy who is good at cycling and has even completed several longer triathlons. I agreed to compete with them so that we could finally declare someone to be the best athlete in the office.

After we agreed to the race, I was left with only 5 weeks to switch my training from only running to focus on the triathlon. I knew that the swimming would be my weakest leg but I also knew that the bike leg is the longest in duration so it is very important. So I focused almost all of my efforts on swimming and biking and assumed that my running ability would remain strong enough to get me through.

Three days a week I jogged to the pool and swam as much as I could, which at first was not very far. On three other days of the week I would do cycling workouts and these were not easy rides. I focused on the hardest type of workout, the long interval workout. I did sets of 3 minutes of intense efforts some days and sets of 5 minutes other days. Most of those days I followed it up with sets of 1 minute sprints. To me, those are the least enjoyable types of workouts but they have been proven to provide the most improvement in the least amount of time so I just had to do it. I also did not enjoy swimming at all by the end. Lap after lap of staring at the line at the bottom of the pool was not my idea of fun. On top of these six workouts, I threw in a few morning runs and another run on Saturday nights. So all together I did 10 or 11 workouts each week even with taking Sundays off.

By the end of the 5 weeks I was very tired of all these workouts and I couldn't wait for this race to be over. However, I was also stronger than I had ever been and I crushed the triathlon and beat my friends and claimed my success. The reason I did it all, was that I simply could not imagine losing to my co-workers. Ok, ok so I admit that I was a bit prideful but at least it helped me learn that when I am super motivated about something, I can achieve whatever I want.

A few weeks after that race I was just getting back to my normal running routine and then I got invited to run for Team Novo Nordisk at a 5k race in Barcelona, Spain. I jumped at the opportunity, of course, and immediately started training super hard again. I'm now pushing myself harder than the same time last year. I'm more focused on the little things like nutrition and rest and core strength. The difference is, I'm super motivated to do my best for the team so that I can get more opportunities like this.

Will I be successful? Stay tuned.

Running Cures Diabetes

Sorry for the sensational headline but this is really how I feel sometimes. Ok, well running doesn't really cure diabetes, at least not type 1 like I have. However, based on what happened tonight, I sure do like what running does for me in my fight against the disease.
I came home from work and wanted to decide if I should eat first or go running. The plan was to run an easy 4 miles to let my legs recover because I have a long hard race coming up in 2 days. Anyway, first things first, I tested my blood sugar. 252! I guess I shouldn't be so surprised, it is the day after Halloween and there was way too much left over candy at the office. I thought I counted everything correctly but even an extra piece or two can easily add up to a high reading like this.

So that settled it, I was going running.

Normally I eat some fast acting carbs before a run but not today, not with a reading of 252. Plus I wanted to see how much it would fall while I ran.

I headed out the door and was back in about 28 minutes. I washed my hands then tested again. 63.

So as little as a half hour of running brought me down about 200 points. I'm not saying that 63 is a safe place to be or that it should be a goal or anything but it sure was great to know that I didn't have to sit around with high blood sugar waiting for and insulin injection to bring it down. The best part is that I didn't even have to take any extra insulin, I just went out and did something I love to do anyway. Plus I got to enjoy a nice snack after the run to bring me back up to a safe glucose level.

It is little victories like this that keep me going for another day. I run to beat diabetes and in turn diabetes fuels me to run even harder.

Wish me luck in my race this weekend.

The Best Running Store

In case anyone is wondering, Shu's Idaho Running Company is the best running store in town.
They really know their stuff. They will get you into the right shoes, which can make all the difference, especially for beginner runners.

Stay tuned for my race report from last weekend's North face Endurance Challenge.

Running with Diabetes

Great article from a pro marathoner with Type 1 on my Team:

http://www.teamtype1.org/2012/10/some-other-reasons-for-running-with-diabetes/

 

 

Great Workout

Great workout tonight, 6 x 1 mile with 3 minutes rest in between. I started at 5:30 pace and worked my way down to 5:20 then blew out the last one at 5:10 just for good measure. I went into it with a blood sugar of 123 and still had about 1 unit of active insulin bolus. I had 30 g of carbs and hit the road. No eating the whole time and I finished with a blood sugar of 83 and I don't think I went anaerobic the whole time except maybe the last 30 seconds of the final set.

It is nice to finally see how good of shape I'm in now that the air isn't so smokey.

I ready to start crushing some races for Team Type 1.

Longest Run Ever.

I know a lot of people have been on much longer runs than this before and it is nothing special but I've never really been a long distance guy. I will be running my first marathon soon so I've been upping my mileage lately. On Saturday I was feeling so good that I added an extra 15 minutes to my run and ended up going for 2 hours and covering 17.8 miles.
See my route below.

Average pace of 6:45, which includes the first few miles warming up at about 7:30 pace, means that I was doing something near 6:30 by the end. I was breathing comfortably the whole time, just focusing on getting in some miles and not pushing the pace. I would call it talking pace but I always run alone so there is no one to talk to.

 

It was at 6:30 AM and I tested at 108 before the run. I had some Gatorade and a gel and headed out the door, I ate again every 30 minutes and went through about a liter of water. I got a little low at mile 7 but I still had plenty of food with me at that point. I was 84 at the end and had burned about 2000 calories. I enjoyed taking them all back in for the rest of the day.

My previous longest run was 16 miles back in January, this record won't stand as long. I should beat it in just a few weeks.


This Saturday I will do a race in the hills to get me ready for the Endurance Challenge in Atlanta in October. I'm hoping to get a new shipment of glucose monitors soon, they make long runs like this much easier.

A1C = 6.2

I'm getting closer to my goal of 5.9